Thursday, February 5, 2015

Two "Beware Stories" about an American Express Credit Card. Back around 2006 I was encouraged by an American Express Credit Card phone representative into changing my American Express Blue Card to an America Express Delta Miles Card.During the unsolicited phone conversation I got the representative to promise me three times that my FIXED, life of the card 9.9% interest rate would not change. I repeatedly said I do not want any change to the status of my card if it involves any type of increase in the interest rate or in some other manner. When my next bill came my interest rate had jumped from 9.9% to over 11% AND I was on the hook for an 80 dollar annual fee whereas previously I had not had any fee.I IMMEDIATELY called American Express, an investigation was done, and I was told they had no way to reverse the card back to an American Express Blue Card, nor to change my rate back to what it had been for the prior 6 six years (9.9%), nor to remove the annual 80 dollar fee which previously did not exist. lol, they did however send a bouquet of flowers. I calculate that this fraudulent act ended up costing me a thousand to two thousand dollars in extra fees and interest rate charges over the next five years.Forward 5 years, here is some necessary backstory prior to the next American Express story. My mother was eligible for a special Caregiver program that would have paid a caregiver a very small amount per month to be her caregiver. However when she applied for the program we were lied to and told any wages I might receive as her caregiver would be reclaimed by the state of california by filing a lien on our residence if I outlived my mother. I found out 20 months later that this was a lie. However I had already given up my video business to take care of both of my parents and the present lie over the caregiver program resulted in my taking a hit on my credit cards since I no longer had any income and to qualify for the program one can have virtually no savings either. I had had a perfect payment history for 15 years. I just bring this up so that it is understood that my credit card defaults that followed were predicated on Medi_CAL lying about how their program works and not my being lazy or not wanting to work.The Debt Collection company that American Express hired used a service company that TWICE committed a false subservice against our family. I was finally able to settle my two court litigated cases. BUT HERE IS THE WARNING, ONLY ONE OF THE TWO CREDIT CARD PLAINTIFFS THAT TOOK ME TO COURT IS NO LONGER REPORTING THEIR COURT VERDICT TO MY CREDIT REPORT. AMERICAN EXPRESS IS STILL REPORTING THEIR COURT VERDICT ONTO MY CREDIT REPORT EVEN THOUGH THEY OBTAINED THEIR VERDICT VIA A FALSE SUBSERVICE AND MAIL FRAUD OF THE BACK UP SERVICE THAT IS DONE BY MAIL, AND AMEX IS STILL REPORTING THE VERDICT TO MY CREDIT REPORT EVEN THOUGH I HAVE RECEIVED A SATISFACTION OF JUDGEMENT LETTER FROM AMEX.When a fraudulently created subservice is then backed-up up via a service by mail it basically means the mailed service was mail fraud since the person doing the service has to swear in writing they performed a lawful subservice in person and put that statement through the mail. Putting that fraudulent swearing in writing through the mail systems constitutes mail fraud in my opinion.One would think that a compromise to settling a credit card default case that went forward based on a fraudulent subservice and subsequent mail fraud would be for American Express to stop reporting their court "victory" obtained via a fraudulent subservice and subsequent mail fraud service once a satisfaction of judgement has been received.So my advice is to beware of American Express if there is any chance you might have a life changing event that creates a hardship and you default. American Express appears to have policies in place that make the consumer suffer as much as possible for as long as is legally possible once the consumer defaults and is taken to court and a verdict is gained in AMEX's favor. For the record, the amount of the satisfaction of judgement settlement and the amount of the extra charges I incurred after the AMEX Blue card was switched to a Delta Miles card along with a higher interest rate plus annual fees was probably enough to zero out the debt and pay it off in full, yet AMEX will keep reporting their ill gotten court "victory" for the full seven years.Third quick AMEX Beware Story. I had to help correct another American Express credit reporting mistake in which AMEX closed someone else's account and then claimed the account was not being paid off when it was! American Express appears to have some type of credit reporting agenda in which they make their customers suffer as much as they can even when American Express has contributed to the problem with their own illegal acts or mistakes, or the default occurs because of a hardship beyond the consumer's control.

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

One of the biggest controversies over the home loan modification programs of the past was that to become eligible, one had to fall behind on their mortgage payments. If a homeowner was using rising credit card debt to pay monthly bills so they would have enough actual cash left over to pay their mortgage every month, that homeowner would most likely not be considered eligible for a home loan modification.

Yet once a homeowner was in arrears on their mortgage, the mortgage servicer could begin what is known as parallel foreclosure proceedings. Parallel Foreclosure meant that a homeowners home was going to be foreclosed upon but if by some miracle a new mortgage payment plan was completed in time, the foreclosure could be halted. All this means is that the homeowner is at the mercy of a government program to ride in and save them in a timely manner from an already in progress foreclosure. Ha ha, good luck with that. Sometimes it worked, other times it did not.

So in rides Keep Your Home California dot org, bombarding prime time television in the Los Angeles area with commercials. Curious to see how the up to $100,000 in mortgage forgiveness program worked, I answered their 11 questions. Sure enough, I failed and was not eligible for their mortgage relief program. The reason? I was not behind on my mortgage! I could become eligible were I to fall two mortgage payments behind.

In other words, the only way to be eligible for a mortgage reduction is to prove you are a deadbeat first. Being a homeowner who is extremely frugal but struggling does not count, one must be an actual financial deadbeat. Once a homeowner's mortgage is more than 30 days in arrears the bank can and probably does report to the credit bureau that the homeowner is behind. Once a home is more than 30 days in arrears, parallel foreclosure can commence as well, even though parallel foreclosures are supposed to be illegal.

I'd like to suggest the next big thing for consumers. A way to put 10 grand in an escrow or trust account to be used to hire an attorney, and kept in reserve without it being counted as an available asset. That way at least the consumer will still have one more way to fight through the BS once they rely on one government program to save them from what a previous government program failed to accomplish on their behalf.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

As bad as Barack Obama has been regarding protecting homeowners against ridiculous foreclosure actions such as this one by Wells Fargo, republican politicians have been worse for not calling Obama to task on rampant foreclosures as they also celebrate initial problems with Obama Care.

Hi, Your comments matter greatly. If you post anonymously it helps if you briefly explain how your prior experiences relate to the comment you are leaving. Please no link ads unless you contact me first.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Here is a critical excerpt from that dealbook article about judge Naomi Reice Buchwald of Federal District Court in Manhattan ruling against the common man suing the banks about the banks ADMITTED a conspiratorial banking fraud regarding the LIBOR scandal. But definitely check out the entire DealBook article as there is other important info as well....

Her decision (the judge) came on a motion to dismiss filed by the banks arguing that the plaintiffs could not prove a violation of the law even if it could be shown that interest-rate manipulation caused them financial harm.

So what the judge has concluded is, if a burglar steals from you, but you cannot prove you were actually harmed, then the burglar is absolved. Yes, that is EXACTLY what judge Naomi Reice Buchwald of Federal District Court in Manhattan just concluded.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Learn more about this BBB being shut down in Los Angeles by clicking here. I recall in the late 80's and early 90's being encouraged to register my business. I seem to recall it was just about the money back then, as well.